Category: Paper Management

If your resolution this year was to get organized, I want to be the one that helps you reach that goal. Taking the time and energy to get organized truly changes your life. Let’s tackle your paperwork first: Sort papers into piles of reading, reference and action papers. Take a good look at your reading pile and determine if you realistically think you will read everything in that pile or not. If you realize that you probably can’t get to it all, decide to only keep your top 3 and recycle the rest. Move your reference papers to your file… read more »

If you haven’t already started yet, it’s time to start getting the paperwork together that you need for taxes. If you have been using a FreedomFiler, your tax papers are already together for you. It’s important to determine a home for all of your tax papers to live until you receive them all, or find them all. I normally use a magnetic clip on my refrigerator to catch all of the incoming tax papers as they arrive. If you have a lot of paperwork that is needed for your tax prep, a hanging or expanding folder will probably work best. Whatever… read more »

Do you have gift cards, coupons and frequent buyer cards scatterred throughout your home or office? Do you miss great deals and savings by never having them with you when you need them? If so, here’s the solution; the Card Cubby. The Card Cubby is a stylish, alphabetized mini-card file that fits right into your purse, briefcase, baby bag or car console! Use your Card Cubby to alphabetically file: Gift Cards Coupons (Fold and File) Frequent Buyer Cards Discount Cards Business Cards Player Cards Important Contact Info Insurance Cards And on and on… You can also put your drivers license… read more »

Are you drowning in paper piles? Do you feel like you work hard all day and get nothing accomplished because you’re running in circles looking for things? Paper clutter and disorganization is a very real problem. One of my all time favorite products, Freedom Filer is the perfect solution to your paper problems. The FreedomFiler® is the only self-purging filing system available today. With this system, you will be able to quickly file or retrieve whatever information you may need. Once you begin using Freedom Filer, you will never again have to take time out of your life for cleaning… read more »

Second to junk mail, gift cards are one of the things that drive me crazy! You’re probably wondering why I would feel that way. They seem like such a great idea for the person that has everything or the person that you’re not quite sure what to buy. We find anywhere from 1-10+ expired or unused gift cards with every client we work with. They get mixed in with paperwork and forgotten. They get thrown in a drawer and forgotten. They get buried under stuff and forgotten. Are you starting to see a pattern here? It seems to me that… read more »

When you stop to think about how much time you waste (lose) searching for things, and the amount of stress it causes, you will understand the value of taking the time to get things organized. You will gain back the time you spent getting organized in no time, and you will save lots more time and stress on top of that! These days we all spend alot of time on the computer. How many times have you wasted valuable time looking for documents that you know are on your computer, somewhere? It is important to set up your electronic filing… read more »

Junk mail is a real problem. Unless you keep a good handle on it, your mailbox will be full of it every day. I work with so many clients that are completely overwhelmed by their piles of paper and mail. Junk mail is my biggest pet peeve so I am extremely proactive about stopping it. Even though I have taken all of the steps to stop junk mail that we share with our clients, I have been bombarded with a bunch of junk mail the last two weeks. Probably because of the upcoming holidays. I had received about 15 different… read more »

This is the “after” picture of the files. As you can see, we broke the files down into sections using colored hanging folders, and we even put the filing tabs in a straight row for each section. This makes locating and returning files much quicker, and eventually without much thought at all. The sections that we made are based on this person’s files and the different categories or groups of files that went together such as billing, office use, etc. When working with any client, we look at every single file and discuss what’s in it, what it’s used for… read more »

This is a before picture of the filing system of a very busy, overwhelmed executive client of ours. The problem she was struggling with is a very common problem with entrepreneurs, her business grew very quickly. Doesn’t sound like a problem, does it? Actually it’s a good problem to have, but it causes a great deal of everyday stress because there are no systems in place to track or complete the endless amounts of office work you have as a business owner. The problem with this filing system, and most of the ones that we see, is that there is… read more »

A question we hear a lot is “what do I do with all of these business cards?” Here are my suggestions: Purge cards from people you don’t even remember. Purge duplicates. Spend a moment on each card, and decide if you really want, or need, that person’s contact information. Purge those that you don’t need. The top 3 suggestions will probably weed out at least 1/2 of the business cards you have, if not more. Enter the remainder into a contact management database such as Outlook or ACT!. Toss the cards after they have been entered into the database.

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About the Author

Sue Anderson, a Professional Organizer and Owner of Simplified Living Solutions, is an expert in the professional organizing field who specializes in clutter control, whole house transformations, team organizing, downsizing, unpacking and paper management.

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Since 2007, our professional organizers have helped people in and around St Louis, Missouri declutter and simplify their lives with our personal organizing services.

We understand how overwhelming, stressful and out of control life can feel when things are cluttered and disorganized. Whether you need a personal home organizer or office organization, we’re here to help you get back on track, and back in control, of your house, office, paper piles and life!